The trust is to make the announcement this morning during an event at the school, 330 S.W. Western. The school is significant for its connection to the landmark Supreme Court case Brown v. Board of Education and is named along with sites that include a Philadelphia theater and California state parks.

"It's to raise their profile and get them on folks' radar screens as something that needs attention and needs saving," said Amy Cole, a senior program officer and regional attorney with the trust's mountain/plains office in Denver.

In the early 1950s, Sumner was one of eight white elementary schools connected to the Brown case, dating to a time when Topeka maintained separate elementary schools for black and white children. Ironically, Sumner was named for Charles Sumner, an outspoken anti-slavery senator from Massachusetts.

It was the last round of Brown litigation that prompted the closing of Sumner more than 10 years ago as the district made way for a new school. Since then, Sumner has been used as storage for the Topeka and Shawnee County Public Library. And in recent years, it has sat vacant but in city hands.

A leaky roof has led to interior water damage, Cole said. Without heating and air conditioning, she said wood floors and plaster walls have suffered. Windows have been broken. The city, she said, hasn't sufficiently maintained the building.

"As current problems remain unaddressed and damage worsens, this national icon is being allowed to deteriorate even further and resources have not been allocated to stem this tide," the trust said in a release.

Being added to the list will raise the profile of the building, making it a strong candidate for grant funds and other assistance.

"Once a building is on our list it becomes one of our main advocacy focuses in the state in which the building is listed," Cole said.

In 20 years of the top 11 lists, just six structures on the lists have been destroyed. Among those sites preserved and put to new use, Cole said, were buildings on the grounds of the veterans hospital in Leavenworth.

Sandra Lassiter, who is leading efforts to turn Sumner into a school and community hub, welcomed news of the listing. Community First, of which Sumner is a part, is attempting to buy the 1936 school from the city and has until May 31 to prove it can rehabilitate the building and put it to a sustained use for at least a few years.

Lassiter said much of what the group needed to accomplish by the end of this month is done. However, she has been quieter about the financial picture. On Monday, she said discussions were underway with a developer who would have his eye on restoring the entire area.

"We want to bring life back to this baby," Lassiter said. "A city without old buildings is like a man with no memory."

Nearby residents simply hope that the hole in their neighborhood will be filled — whether it is done by Community First or someone else, said Shawn Leisinger, president of the Ward Meade Neighborhood Improvement Association.

"It's kind of the centerpiece of our neighborhood," he said. "If we can get it renovated it will bring some regrowth and renewal to the neighborhood."

Several proposals for the buildings have fallen apart, and city council members last year briefly contemplated demolishing the structure — a move that would have violated a covenant with the Kansas State Historical Society.

The city's goal is to see the building put to use, said city spokesman David Bevens. What the city doesn't want, he said, is to see it purchased only to sit unused or used for something like construction storage, as has occurred with McKinley Elementary, another school with connections to Brown.

"We certainly want to find somebody who can use the building and make it a viable part of the community again," he said.

Barbara Hollingsworth can be reached at (785) 295-1285 or barbara.hollingsworth @cjonline.com.